new to reef aquariums - few questions help please! :(

C

charmanderzor

Reefing newb
my question is:

1) there are so many freakin filters and different styles im so confused on which one to buy, can u tell me the basics of all the filters there are in a easy way please, and which 1 is best? i been reading many of peoples post on yahoo answers, and i notice many skip having a filter if someone has a protein skimmer why? do u need a filter if u have a protein skimmer? how many filters should a 15-20g reef tank have? can u try to tell me about what types of filters there are in a super easy way and which one is best cause some of these sites i read r so freakin confusing i dunno what they r talking about lol ( #1 is most important question))) ;o

2) okay i read something about a sump and now i really want one but it looks so hard 2 put together and stuff. sumps r used to hide all ur stuff right and make ur main tank on top look cool. like it hides ur heater, skimmer, filter, etc. if i have a sump, do i need a filter on top of my main tank? or i can filter my water with the sump n no need for filter on my main tank. im kinda confuse, if u have a sump do u even need a filter?

3) how exactly do sumps work? from what i see and learned from yt vids. i think that sump takes water from like a tray in ur main tank called like a overflow or something, then it goes down a pipe thingy into the sump, then the first stage of the sump is like dirty water and the protein skimmer takes the water n cleans it, then it drops into a second stage where the water kinda drops into this hole thingy into a third stage where it goes back into the tank lol. how do sumps work exactly? i want one so bad but i think im too dumb to build one etc, like getting the pipes required, and making all the valves etc looks so hard. ._.

4) how many fishes will a 15-20g reef tank hold? i reallyreally want a nemo fish, a dorthy fish, those shrimp ones, and something called a mandarin fish cause it looks so k00l like a weird pokemon or something lol.... i no i want some corals, i want a anemone for my nemo fish to live in but i heard anemones r different from corals cause they move n sting stuff so im scared to get a anemone now, but i read that some nemo fish will host to a coral but its rare im hoping that will happen? cause i might not get a anemone cause they will sting n kill everything

5) changing water question - okay, so i read that u change ur water every 2-3 weeks, u take like 25% out, u can use tap but make sure 2 use decholornator, do u add some salt to ur new water b4 putting it in since ur taking some water out? cause if u take 25% water out every 2-3 weeks and dont add salt in ur new water eventually there will be no salt right??

6) okay sand question - ok i no i wont be using like coral gravel or something cause it looks kinda ugly i wanna use like live sand/white sand stuff it looks cool. when u first buy the live sand/sand how do u clean it? do u just rinse with like water or theres like a special process? later on in the months to come, when my reef tank is set how do u clean ur sand?

7) what's a fuge?

wow! i asked so many questions lol i hope someone who knows a thing or two about reef tank though answers id reallyreally aprpeciate it =D i just realize how happy all this reef tank stuff makes me if i get this started ill be reallyreally happy and i think this is gonna be my new hobby. i ordered new beginner books and everything, been reading lots of guides online and watching yt vids ;o anyways thanks so much for reading, and if u have any other advice u can feel free to leave it here. =D
 
So first off a sump is a useful thing, even when you have a sump you will still need some sort of a filter. Hang on back filter, canister filters, are a couple of them. As to how many fish you can have most likely 3 or 4 is about all your going to get in a 55, at most 5 small fish. If your refering to a dori fih (the blue fish from Nemo) then you wont have it long cause they grow fast. A anemone will move around but wont do much damage cause usually it will find itself a home and stay put. But i wouldnt recommend an anemone for atleast a year in a new tank. A mandarine wont survive unless you have a refugeum cause they like copapods and most tanks wont have them without a fuge. Unless it is eating mysis shrimp. Water changes are essential to a saltwater tank and yes you will nee to add salt everytime you take water out of yours. Hope this helps out.Goodluck:Cheers:
 
charmanderzor said:
my question is:

1) there are so many freakin filters and different styles im so confused on which one to buy, can u tell me the basics of all the filters there are in a easy way please, and which 1 is best? i been reading many of peoples post on yahoo answers, and i notice many skip having a filter if someone has a protein skimmer why? do u need a filter if u have a protein skimmer? how many filters should a 15-20g reef tank have? can u try to tell me about what types of filters there are in a super easy way and which one is best cause some of these sites i read r so freakin confusing i dunno what they r talking about lol ( #1 is most important question))) ;o

You don't need any filters. The filtration in a reef tank comes from live rock (biological filtration) and protein skimmers. Protein skimmers remove excess waste in the water, while the live rock hosts the bacteria capable of breaking waste down. you wil need 1-2 lbs of live rock/gallon.

2) okay i read something about a sump and now i really want one but it looks so hard 2 put together and stuff. sumps r used to hide all ur stuff right and make ur main tank on top look cool. like it hides ur heater, skimmer, filter, etc. if i have a sump, do i need a filter on top of my main tank? or i can filter my water with the sump n no need for filter on my main tank. im kinda confuse, if u have a sump do u even need a filter?

Sumps aren't necessarily hard unless you want them to be. In a small tank, I recommend getting a CPR overflow rather than dealing with all the drilling and stuff. Then you can use any kind of container-- a smaller tank, or a rubbermade bin-- to hold your sump stuff. whatever fits inside your stand. You don't need a filter regardless of having a sump or not having one.

3) how exactly do sumps work? from what i see and learned from yt vids. i think that sump takes water from like a tray in ur main tank called like a overflow or something, then it goes down a pipe thingy into the sump, then the first stage of the sump is like dirty water and the protein skimmer takes the water n cleans it, then it drops into a second stage where the water kinda drops into this hole thingy into a third stage where it goes back into the tank lol. how do sumps work exactly? i want one so bad but i think im too dumb to build one etc, like getting the pipes required, and making all the valves etc looks so hard. ._.

There are two main ways a sump moves water. Some people get hang on the back (HOB) overflows, and for small tanks I think that's my prefered option. In larger tanks, people drill holes into the glass of the tank, and set up plumbing systems to move the water from an overflow box (which is meant to skim the surface of the water to take out floating debris, as well as helps prevent little fishies from getting sucked down into the sump) into the sump. Then you also plumb things to include a pump to move water from the sump up to the display tank (DT). If I can build one, anyone can.

4) how many fishes will a 15-20g reef tank hold? i reallyreally want a nemo fish, a dorthy fish, those shrimp ones, and something called a mandarin fish cause it looks so k00l like a weird pokemon or something lol.... i no i want some corals, i want a anemone for my nemo fish to live in but i heard anemones r different from corals cause they move n sting stuff so im scared to get a anemone now, but i read that some nemo fish will host to a coral but its rare im hoping that will happen? cause i might not get a anemone cause they will sting n kill everything

a 15 gallon tank will be ok for 1 or 2 very small fish. You could keep 1 clown fish, possibly 2. You cannot keep a dori fish (a hippo tang) in anything less than 70 gallons. Mandarins are very hard to keep fish because most often they do not eat prepared foods-- they'll only eat live food living in the tank. Most people recommend a much larger tank for mandarins, because they starve in small tanks. If you wait long enough, though, ORA is working on tank-bred mandarins that eat prepared food. Although even for those guys, I'd say a minimum of 30-40 gallons. Anemones are an advanced animal to keep, and should only be kept in a very mature (more than a year) tank. Clown fish often host other things-- not only corals, but rocks and powerheads and all sorts of stuff. They also don't need to host anything.
5) changing water question - okay, so i read that u change ur water every 2-3 weeks, u take like 25% out, u can use tap but make sure 2 use decholornator, do u add some salt to ur new water b4 putting it in since ur taking some water out? cause if u take 25% water out every 2-3 weeks and dont add salt in ur new water eventually there will be no salt right??

In a small tank, you should change about 10% of the water weekly. In my large tank, I do a 20-25% every 2-3 weeks. But I test my water regularly to ensure there isn't any water chemistry problems-- if there is, I'm always prepared to do an emergency water change. You should never use tap water and dechlorinator. It will cause nothing but headaches-- algae outbreaks that never stop, and even heavy metal poisoning. It's better to us reverse osmosis-deionized water. You can get this at the store or at a local fish store (LFS). For water cange water, the salt needs to match the salinity of your tank. But you will also loose some water due to evaporation, which needs ot be replaced on an almost-daily basis by RODI water.

6) okay sand question - ok i no i wont be using like coral gravel or something cause it looks kinda ugly i wanna use like live sand/white sand stuff it looks cool. when u first buy the live sand/sand how do u clean it? do u just rinse with like water or theres like a special process? later on in the months to come, when my reef tank is set how do u clean ur sand?

You want sugar-sized aragonite sand. do not used crushed coral. Also, don't waste money on live sand. buy dry sand and in a matter of weeks it will become live sand. When you get it, rinse the sand out with water, just to remove most of the fine debris. You don't clean your sand-- you get creatures that do it for you.

7) what's a fuge?

stand for refugium. It's a place to grow macro algae, which removes nitrates and phosphates, and helps prevent algae growth in the DT. It's also a great place to grow the food mandarins eat-- copepods, or pods.Some people have a fuge built into their sumps, others have them separately, and still others don't have them at all.

wow! i asked so many questions lol i hope someone who knows a thing or two about reef tank though answers id reallyreally aprpeciate it =D i just realize how happy all this reef tank stuff makes me if i get this started ill be reallyreally happy and i think this is gonna be my new hobby. i ordered new beginner books and everything, been reading lots of guides online and watching yt vids ;o anyways thanks so much for reading, and if u have any other advice u can feel free to leave it here. =D
Click to expand...

hope htis helps. For books, read robert fenner's "the conscientous marine aquarist".
 
Way to muck up the newbie's thread! LOL

Welcome to the site :D Glad you made it here! (he saw my youtube videos, and I referred him here so he can get more detailed answers :D)

They got you covered! Just ask away. Everyone here will help. If you really want a Dory fish, then I suggest you hit up Craigslist for a good deal on a tank that's at least 75g. I started out with a 45g...that was a year ago...now I broke that down, and set up a 125g and have more choices in fish.
 
charmanderzor said:
my question is:

1) there are so many freakin filters and different styles im so confused on which one to buy, can u tell me the basics of all the filters there are in a easy way please, and which 1 is best? i been reading many of peoples post on yahoo answers, and i notice many skip having a filter if someone has a protein skimmer why? do u need a filter if u have a protein skimmer? how many filters should a 15-20g reef tank have? can u try to tell me about what types of filters there are in a super easy way and which one is best cause some of these sites i read r so freakin confusing i dunno what they r talking about lol ( #1 is most important question))) ;o

2) okay i read something about a sump and now i really want one but it looks so hard 2 put together and stuff. sumps r used to hide all ur stuff right and make ur main tank on top look cool. like it hides ur heater, skimmer, filter, etc. if i have a sump, do i need a filter on top of my main tank? or i can filter my water with the sump n no need for filter on my main tank. im kinda confuse, if u have a sump do u even need a filter?

3) how exactly do sumps work? from what i see and learned from yt vids. i think that sump takes water from like a tray in ur main tank called like a overflow or something, then it goes down a pipe thingy into the sump, then the first stage of the sump is like dirty water and the protein skimmer takes the water n cleans it, then it drops into a second stage where the water kinda drops into this hole thingy into a third stage where it goes back into the tank lol. how do sumps work exactly? i want one so bad but i think im too dumb to build one etc, like getting the pipes required, and making all the valves etc looks so hard. ._.

4) how many fishes will a 15-20g reef tank hold? i reallyreally want a nemo fish, a dorthy fish, those shrimp ones, and something called a mandarin fish cause it looks so k00l like a weird pokemon or something lol.... i no i want some corals, i want a anemone for my nemo fish to live in but i heard anemones r different from corals cause they move n sting stuff so im scared to get a anemone now, but i read that some nemo fish will host to a coral but its rare im hoping that will happen? cause i might not get a anemone cause they will sting n kill everything

5) changing water question - okay, so i read that u change ur water every 2-3 weeks, u take like 25% out, u can use tap but make sure 2 use decholornator, do u add some salt to ur new water b4 putting it in since ur taking some water out? cause if u take 25% water out every 2-3 weeks and dont add salt in ur new water eventually there will be no salt right??

6) okay sand question - ok i no i wont be using like coral gravel or something cause it looks kinda ugly i wanna use like live sand/white sand stuff it looks cool. when u first buy the live sand/sand how do u clean it? do u just rinse with like water or theres like a special process? later on in the months to come, when my reef tank is set how do u clean ur sand?

7) what's a fuge?

wow! i asked so many questions lol i hope someone who knows a thing or two about reef tank though answers id reallyreally aprpeciate it =D i just realize how happy all this reef tank stuff makes me if i get this started ill be reallyreally happy and i think this is gonna be my new hobby. i ordered new beginner books and everything, been reading lots of guides online and watching yt vids ;o anyways thanks so much for reading, and if u have any other advice u can feel free to leave it here. =D
Click to expand...

I would second almost everything tankedchemist has said and add that going bigger - upfront - will be far better, I promise.

I started with a 30g BioCube thinking it would be easy and fun and it wasn't. Smaller tanks give you less room for error and make it harder to enjoy the hobby. One fish dying in a 30gallon has detrimental impact as opposed to a fish dying in 90g+.

A sump will help 'expand' your display tanks 'capacity' but I would still be careful and not necessarily use it as a means to an end for simply having more fish.

Lighting will play a role in determing what kind of tank you want to setup with specific types of corals. I also didn't realize, at first, that many of the things you see at a fish store come from different regions, so their needs are differing - but your tank only provides a single environment - always check to make sure things 'play well' with one another.

Also charmanderzor, the one thing that everyone has taught me here is patience - it took eight months before things in my BioCube started calming down to where tests were consistent, a routine was easy to get into and I wasn't seeing crashes or unexpected die-offs and corals are finally growing.

Lastly, I would invest heavily in the Forum Search functions - there are great stickies and posts on new tank startups, headaches, tips and tricks and more that are covered by people that have been in this hobby 15+ years; those have been most helpful to me as well.
 
welcome to the forum :) Tanked has you covered.

as far as nanos go, I have 2. a 10 gallon and a 20 gallon. I'd suggest only ONE or TWO small fish (such as a clown fish ((nemo)) or damsel) and nothing more.... I'm kinda a rule breaker so don't follow my example of over-stocking (my big tanked died... long story) such a tiny tank.

The require really freaquent water changes, so if you aren't willing to put a lot of time and effort into maintaining something like a 15-20 gallon (basically anything under a 45 is considered a nano), go bigger. The bigger the tank the easier they are to do.


if you wanna be super crazy though, you could get yourself a baby eel ;) I have 2 and i LOOOOVE them :)
 

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